Simply put, William Klein is a legend. The American expatriate who has called Paris home for almost 50 years was commissioned by the Maison European de la Photographie to create a portrait of the city that has seen revolution and radicalism in its most extreme forms. Klein's forte is the urban theatre that just such a city creates. His first monograph, published in 1956 and entitled Life is Good & Good For You in New York is a stunning masterpiece. It seems inevitable, in hindsight, that he would finally address his chosen city of exile. "I've noticed that in general the Paris of photographers...was romantic, foggy and above all, ethnically homogenous," Klein writes in Paris + Klein. "But for me, Paris was, as much as and perhaps more than New York, a melting pot. A cosmopolitan city, multicultural and totally multi-ethnic, whatever Le Pen thinks."

Like Robert Frank whose impact on American photography and culture has been unmistakable, William Klein has had a formidable career in France, where he is more revered as an avant-garde filmmaker then as a photographer. This impressive monograph of film stills is the first publication to chronicle Klein's career as a filmmaker and includes a comprehensive filmography, with exhaustive abstracts by the critic Claire Clouzot.

"Close up is right! Klein put a wide-angle lens on his camera, headed for any crowd he could find, and got as close as he could. He decided not to worry about graininess, blurriness, depth of field, and other technical considerations but to go for a spontaneous feel. He got it. These double-page, black-and-white photos are overflowing with people--blurry, grainy, and out of focus but vibrant, busy, and emotional. His compositions are never chaotic, though. Alternation of large and small forms, off-kilter camera angles, and surprising points of focus are combined to create dramatic visual impact. Highly recommended for all photography collections."--Library Journal